E! Apologizes for Michael J. Fox 'Fun Fact'
In a moment of almost elegant stupidity, E! aired the following "fun fact" during their red carpet coverage of the 71st Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night, in reference to nominee Michael J. Fox:
Credit: E!
The online furor from the public was as immediate as it was intense, with viewers calling the "fun fact" insensitive. And hey, say what you will about this being a PC era, but they aren't wrong. At the very least, E! seems to recognize they made an ambitious error in judgment.
E! issued an apology Sunday evening to The Hollywood Reporter: "We regret the insensitive classification of Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's diagnosis during our Eonline [sic] live stream. We understand the serious nature of the disease and sincerely apologize."
Of course, this is part of the issue of an age in which the words "fun fact" have replaced the word "trivia". If it's called "trivia," then suddenly, "Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1991" doesn't sound crass. It's just a fact. But take the same message and label it a "fun fact"? Come on now, this isn't the pre-trailer trivia at the movie theater. (Movie theaters still do those right? I haven't been in my seat before the trailers start in close to a decade)
So what do you think? Are people being overly sensitive? Or does E! deserve every bit of the flak it's getting? Sound off in the comments!